Caspar Llewellyn Smith
The Observer, Sunday 8 December 2013

Mick Jagger: 'If you start thinking how pretty the sunset is, you get lost'
The Rolling Stones showed their enduring power in a storming Glastonbury debut

"It's the alternative Ascot, let's face it," says the sprightly 70-year-old sitting opposite me, talking about the Glastonbury festival, before adding quickly: "Not that I've ever been to the proper Ascot."

Sometimes it's hard to remember that Mick Jagger isn't just a playboy of the western world – before all that, he was the singer in a rock'n'roll band and, 50 years on, that much hasn't changed. In fact, try to get him talking about how the Rolling Stones revolutionised society in the 60s, or about the lifestyle he pursues during downtime from the group, and he's not really having it. Instead, he talks about the meticulous preparation that went into playing Glastonbury for the first time this summer and the group's two subsequent shows in Hyde Park.

The last time the Stones played Hyde Park, it was July 1969 and Brian Jones had died two days earlier. Jagger read Shelley's poem on John Keats's death from the lip of the stage, and hundreds of cabbage white butterflies released from cardboard boxes that were meant to flutter over the crowd never made it.

"Everyone was banging on about it," says the frontman now, "but what I remember is thanks to the film that was made of it [by Granada TV]. The film supersedes my own memory.

"Someone asked me if I was thinking about '69 when I was on stage this summer," he continues. "Listen, darling, if I was thinking about that, I'd really be losing it. If you ever start thinking about how pretty the sunset is, you get lost. You can never start wondering about what you'll watch on TV when you're back in the hotel… Homeland, or whatever. You need to pay attention. There are cables to trip over, it can be dark, people throw things. The stage can be dangerous place to be…"

Before Glastonbury, I had talked to Charlie Watts in the same office space: the Stones' new HQ in Chelsea, west London. It's a nondescript place, with plenty of expense spared on the decor and furnishings in keeping with the band's famous Scrooge-like tendencies. The drummer had been unenthusiastic about the prospect of Glastonbury ("I don't want to do it" ) but Jagger says now that the whole band loved it in the end, despite the special challenges that the gig presented.

"It's not your stage and it's not your crowd per se – people have bought their tickets before any acts have been announced," he says. "I know U2 didn't have the best of nights [in 2011], although the weather didn't help." In fact, Jagger sought advice from Bono on whether the Stones should appear, while Chris Martin of Coldplay, a long-term friend of the festival, wrote him a letter listing the reasons why the group should. "Chris was very sweet. The truth is, though, that they'd never actually asked us – and the first time they did, we said yes."

Jagger came prepared for the worst of British summer time: "I've done a lot of shows in the rain, so I dug out a whole wardrobe of glamorous raincoats!" But the notion that he camped there proves to be a lie. His girlfriend, L'Wren Scott, posted a picture on his Instagram account of him standing outside a luxurious yurt, which he captioned: "Me and my yurt! #StonesGlasto #yurtalert#glastonbury." Now, he confesses, it was just a joke – it belonged to one of his daughters and "I wasn't going to rent my own".

Instead, Jagger stayed in accommodation backstage, but he did explore the festival, watching the Arctic Monkeys on the Friday night in order to check out the sight lines from the stage and wandering into dark recesses of the site such as the dance field Block9.

How was that?

"It was kind of fun."


I ask the svelte survivor of Altamont, the hippie apocalypse that followed Hyde Park in '69, whether the kids today compare with their forebears. "Yeah… up to a point. I suppose some of the drugs are different. But [in any age] when you're 20, you're more or less the same."

One other constant for generations of Glastonbury-goers: "the queues for the loos! Not one of the high points…." Did you, Sir Mick (he was knighted in 2002), actually use a portable toilet? At this, he demurs. "I can't remember that part of it."

The Hyde Park shows and Glastonbury – all triumphantly received – came off the back of a 19-date North America tour, and while the Stones are a notoriously haphazard live proposition, this time around the reception was overwhelmingly jubilant.

It's staggering to think that next year Jagger will become a great-grandfather (his granddaughter, Assisi, is expecting her first child in April). The only concession he will make to feeling his age comes when he says he also liked the festival show because of its shorter running time.

Otherwise, it sounds as if this year's 50 & Counting tour has come as a pleasant, and lucrative, interlude in his sybaritic life. When we meet, he is recently returned from the Rajasthan international folk festival in Jodhpur, India, where he is a patron. ." Now he is primed for visits to LA and Mississippi for the filming of a new James Brown biopic, with a script by Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth, in his role as one of the producers.

He also has an Elvis Presley film in the works, based on the Peter Guralnick book Last Train to Memphis, and we talk about the fascination that rock's early heroes still exert on this septuagenarian kid from Dartford. "There's a Taschen book of the journey that Elvis took from Memphis to New York to sing Hound Dog on TV in 1956, and in every picture he just looks so super glamorous."

Did he ever meet Presley?

"No. John Lennon told me not to."

He is far less interested in everyone else's preoccupation with his own life and times, which clearly feels a drag. "I saw a bit of a Jimi Hendrix documentary on TV the other night, which was quite good, I suppose, but I try to avoid these things. Whenever anyone talks about something going wrong in English society, it's always the 60s and Mrs Thatcher that come up… but I don't want to talk about that. There's so much of it about. I don't mind talking about this year, or the next one…"

In 2014, the Stones tour rolls on into Abu Dhabi, Asia and Australia and after that, who knows? Jagger himself is still the jobbing musician. "Oh, I write songs all the time; actually, I was just finishing doing some yesterday."

[www.theguardian.com]

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proudmary

"Someone asked me if I was thinking about '69 when I was on stage this summer," he continues. "Listen, darling, if I was thinking about that, I'd really be losing it. If you ever start thinking about how pretty the sunset is, you get lost. You can never start wondering about what you'll watch on TV when you're back in the hotel… Homeland, or whatever. You need to pay attention. There are cables to trip over, it can be dark, people throw things. The stage can be a dangerous place to be…"

Thanks for posting the article, proudmary. The above bit reminded me of the below bit (from a 1995 Mick interview in Rolling Stone Magazine):

"I walk out to an empty stage; I'm very confident...But having said that...you know...funny things that you think of – just silly things – and you must not think of those, because as soon as you start thinking, `I hope that the heavy rains that we've had in London don't block the gutters up [laughs] and the roof leaks again.' [Laughter] It's just – anything can come into your mind, but you have to throw it out because you just have to really concentrate on what you're doing".

from [www.rollingstone.com]

Very little content, as usual. There are so many things Sir Michael won't talk about.

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Stoneage
Very little content, as usual. There are so many things Sir Michael won't talk about.

He hasn't much to say. He isn't a John Lennon. Just a Jagger.

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kleermaker

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Stoneage
Very little content, as usual. There are so many things Sir Michael won't talk about.

He hasn't much to say. He isn't a John Lennon. Just a Jagger.

OMG. Some people are just silly - it's a fact of life, one can't change it but when these fools make Manifesto of their stupidity - it's a bit annoying.
And the irony - to spend obsessionally entire days on the Stones forum and do not miss a chance to shit on Jagger.

I wonder what content will satisfy your voluptuous curiosity

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kleermaker

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Stoneage
Very little content, as usual. There are so many things Sir Michael won't talk about.

He hasn't much to say. He isn't a John Lennon. Just a Jagger.

dude - WTF

Thanks PM...one thing he did say was that he's still writing. He's thrown that out a few times now and I don't think he'd be doing that if it weren't a hint that he was planning on recording something.

That coupled with Keith's recent comments can lead one to be hopeful I think for new Stones material.

The comments from readers are pretty funny...notice TomCasagranda posted a comment.

"Listen, darling"

Doubt he said that.

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proudmary
Caspar Llewellyn Smith
The Observer, Sunday 8 December 2013

Mick Jagger: 'If you start thinking how pretty the sunset is, you get lost'
The Rolling Stones showed their enduring power in a storming Glastonbury debut

Thank you posting proudmary, and especially thanks for posting the whole article, not just some mystery link. I thought it was a nice Sunday morning read, good to "hear/see" Mick chatting and grinning.... but then again I am not among the constantly constipated and grumpy who only live to whine about anything and everthing.

Thanks again pm

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treaclefingers
Thanks PM...one thing he did say was that he's still writing. He's thrown that out a few times now and I don't think he'd be doing that if it weren't a hint that he was planning on recording something.

That coupled with Keith's recent comments can lead one to be hopeful I think for new Stones material.

The comments from readers are pretty funny...notice TomCasagranda posted a comment.

better to be true because his constant talk about the songs he writes every day but does not release getting on my nerves a little bit

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Max'sKansasCity

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proudmary
Caspar Llewellyn Smith
The Observer, Sunday 8 December 2013

Mick Jagger: 'If you start thinking how pretty the sunset is, you get lost'
The Rolling Stones showed their enduring power in a storming Glastonbury debut

Thank you posting proudmary, and especially thanks for posting the whole article, not just some mystery link. I thought it was a nice Sunday morning read, good to "hear/see" Mick chatting and grinning.... but then again I am not among the constantly constipated and grumpy who only live to whine about anything and everthing.

Thanks again pm

constantly constipated

that's the reason! I was wondering why such a nice little interview and the fact that Mick is named Face of the year caused this inexplicable reaction in some. Now I know. Thank you Max

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Stoneage
Very little content, as usual. There are so many things Sir Michael won't talk about.

So why does he even bother? To keep boredom away, to show himself he is still in the game. And since they have some upcoming Australian concerts this is some PR

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proudmary

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treaclefingers
Thanks PM...one thing he did say was that he's still writing. He's thrown that out a few times now and I don't think he'd be doing that if it weren't a hint that he was planning on recording something.

That coupled with Keith's recent comments can lead one to be hopeful I think for new Stones material.

The comments from readers are pretty funny...notice TomCasagranda posted a comment.

better to be true because his constant talk about the songs he writes every day but does not release getting on my nerves a little bit

If you'll notice, it's only Keith in his interviews always talking about The Stones getting back in the studio, as in a current interview with a New Zealand newspaper where he appears to be paraphrasing Mick telling him that they must get the band back in the studio, but it's only wishful thinking on Keith's part.

First of all, their recording contract with Universal has been fulfilled and/or has expired, and there has been no news of their having signed with another label. The Stones are not an indie outfit, they do it the old-fashioned way--soak one record company for millions over a few years, then move on to the next. Before there can be talk of a new Stones album, there has to be talk of a new contract with another record company.

Whenever Mick talks about writing new songs, he says he's always working on something and at the time of any given interview he always comments on how he's just finished writing something--but he never discusses these newly created songs in the context of The Stones or a possible new album.

The only time this year he has discussed the possibility of recording a new Stones album--and this is not something he offered, but was only responding to a question by an interviewer--was with USA Today, where he commented that it would be nice but that the audience doesn't have the patience or desire for new material.

"Stones fans don't want to hear the new songs" at: [ultimateclassicrock.com]

It has been 8 years since A Bigger Bang, and there is no word of even plans for booking studio time as The Rolling Stones.

At this point, there is a greater likelihood of a Kinks or Faces reunion or both than a new Stones album. They are not that kind of band anymore, and, as for Mick with his comments linked above, the desire is no longer there.

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proudmary

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treaclefingers
Thanks PM...one thing he did say was that he's still writing. He's thrown that out a few times now and I don't think he'd be doing that if it weren't a hint that he was planning on recording something.

That coupled with Keith's recent comments can lead one to be hopeful I think for new Stones material.

The comments from readers are pretty funny...notice TomCasagranda posted a comment.

better to be true because his constant talk about the songs he writes every day but does not release getting on my nerves a little bit

Yes I agree...but because he generally keeps his cards extremely close, it would lead me to believe that if he's talking about writing there may be something in fact in the works.

Yes, there is something in the works--the second SuperHeavy album, or even the long-awaited follow-up to Goddess in the Doorway.

You can look at this from another angle: Some journalists are very good at writing long articles from very little source material. In Sir Michael's case that is often a necessity.

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kleermaker

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Stoneage
Very little content, as usual. There are so many things Sir Michael won't talk about.

He hasn't much to say. He isn't a John Lennon. Just a Jagger.

No . . . he isn't a John Lennon, and thank God for that. Since you're having a piss take I'll simply respond with this: Mick isn't full of himself. He doesn't have to talk about how *everyone* should do what he does (an almost *direct* quote from John from his final Playboy interview), he doesn't spend an entire decade of interviews telling everybody what to do, he doesn't pretentiously proclaim himself a working class hero whilst calling everyone else "@#$%& peasants," and last but definitely not least, he has the dignity to not announce in print that "if there is such thing as a genius, I am one." Mick is a *lot* more humble than people give him credit for and doesn't follow his insecurities down a rabbit hole in print like a certain other songwriter from the Stones, not to mention the departed Lennon. I, for one, will take Mick's frosty, detached dignity and voracious appetite for privacy, over Keith and John's asinine arrogance any day of the week. ><

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stonehearted
the audience doesn't have the patience or desire for new material.

That was about live shows, not about recording.

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Keep On Rolling

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Stoneage
Very little content, as usual. There are so many things Sir Michael won't talk about.

True. He doesn't look back, at all apparently. It obviously works for him though.

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Stoneage
Very little content, as usual. There are so many things Sir Michael won't talk about.

two nice lines:

the subtle dig at U2 not having one of their best nights a G'bury, and
Lennon told him not to meet Elvis; interesting.

He is what he is. He doesn't give much in interviews. What's the point in knocking him for being what he is?

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Rokyfan
What's the point in knocking him for being what he is?

Maybe some people have nothing better to do

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Keep On Rolling

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Rokyfan

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Stoneage
Very little content, as usual. There are so many things Sir Michael won't talk about.

two nice lines:

the subtle dig at U2 not having one of their best nights a G'bury, and
Lennon told him not to meet Elvis; interesting.

He is what he is. He doesn't give much in interviews. What's the point in knocking him for being what he is?

It has nothing to do with knocking him, but everything with stating a fact.

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Rolling Hansie

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Rokyfan
What's the point in knocking him for being what he is?

Maybe some people have nothing better to do

Well, what is 'better' to do? A very subjective and personal matter, isn't it?
One could say that about anything else as well, for instance about your reply.

It's not usual PR interview to promote some Stones product - a tour, or album or new movie etc - it's the annual Guardian' Faces of the Year series

The Observer's faces of 2013
Interactive, 8 Dec 2013: From Glastonbury-headliner Mick Jagger to one of the heroes of the Westgate siege in Kenya, we talk to those who made the news in 2013
[www.theguardian.com]

The journalist wanted to talk about Glastonbury and Mick talked about it.
I think that people who do not have much sympathy to Jagger resent the respectful tone of this article, the fact that Mick is treated as a musician and an artist without a thinly disguised negativity and sarcasm towards him which have been adopted by press for many years
Btw, his interviews in recent years - since 2010 - were quite reflective and he was eager to talk about the past and other topics. Some fans are stuck with a certain idea of ??Jagger that they developed many years ago and they don't want to part with it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-12-09 18:39 by proudmary.

Sure, Prodmary. Maybe I'm a bit biased towards Sir Michael's volubility on interviews. Maybe he did better this time around. But I think there is a valid reason for my prejudice: Very often, very little comes out of these inteviews. I'm sorry if this view of mine disturbs some fans. That was not my intention.

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kleermaker
One could say that about anything else as well, for instance about your reply.

Absolutely true, especially if you have nothing better to do

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Stoneage
Very often, very little comes out of these inteviews.

I liked where he says he doesn't remember whether he used a port-a-potty at the festival. I can understand that he'd rather not discuss going to the toilet in an interview, but he really ought to have just said so instead of using the standard Jagger excuse.

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Rolling Hansie

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kleermaker
One could say that about anything else as well, for instance about your reply.

Absolutely true, especially if you have nothing better to do

At that very moment I didn't have anything better to do. I think I ought to get a life.

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kleermaker
I think I ought to get a life

I ain't gonna stop you Cheers

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